Sharon D. Kruse

The foundational volume in the new series Leading Schools as Effective Organizations: Big Ideas Made Real this important book lays the groundwork for organizational change by taking readers on a journey of thinking in new ways about what leadership is and what it means to lead schools. Exploring instructional, transformational, and collaborative leadership frameworks, this book helps educators understand how to lead from a position of deeper understanding of schools and districts as organizations. Succinctly applying theory and research to practice, while full of helpful features such as interactive leadership reflection prompts and supplemental online resources, Leading Schools as Organizations helps leaders get started right away in becoming more informed, wiser, and more adept leaders.

The foundational volume in the new series Leading Schools as Effective Organizations: Big Ideas Made Real this important book lays the groundwork for organizational change by taking readers on a journey of thinking in new ways about what leadership is and what it means to lead schools. Exploring instructional, transformational, and collaborative leadership frameworks, this book helps educators understand how to lead from a position of deeper understanding of schools and districts as organizations. Succinctly applying theory and research to practice, while full of helpful features such as interactive leadership reflection prompts and supplemental online resources, Leading Schools as Organizations helps leaders get started right away in becoming more informed, wiser, and more adept leaders.

Mindful Educational Leadership unpacks the literature of mindfulness as it applies to K12 school leadership. Crossing disciplinary and theoretical boundaries, scholar and mindfulness coach Sharon Kruse explores mindfulness in three complementary research and philosophical traditions—contemplative, cognitive, and organizational—and applies it to school leadership. This book explores how these perspectives complement and inform each other and the ways in which understanding each can inform decision making, school/community engagement and responsiveness, and advancing equity in school organizations. Full of authentic examples, stories, and models of mindful leadership from real educators, this volume helps readers become more mindful and effective in their practice. An exciting resource for aspiring educational leaders, each chapter also includes supporting resources for study, practice, and reflection on key concepts.

Mindful Educational Leadership unpacks the literature of mindfulness as it applies to K12 school leadership. Crossing disciplinary and theoretical boundaries, scholar and mindfulness coach Sharon Kruse explores mindfulness in three complementary research and philosophical traditions—contemplative, cognitive, and organizational—and applies it to school leadership. This book explores how these perspectives complement and inform each other and the ways in which understanding each can inform decision making, school/community engagement and responsiveness, and advancing equity in school organizations. Full of authentic examples, stories, and models of mindful leadership from real educators, this volume helps readers become more mindful and effective in their practice. An exciting resource for aspiring educational leaders, each chapter also includes supporting resources for study, practice, and reflection on key concepts.

A Case Study Approach to Educational Leadership takes on six core areas of school leadership—organizational vision; curriculum, instruction, and assessment; school and external community; school climate and culture; equity; and improvement, innovation, and reform. Using a case learning approach, this volume introduces salient theoretical and empirical literature in each core area and provides illustrative cases designed for individual and group analysis. Written for aspiring educational leaders, this book facilitates the discussion and reflection of individual and collective professional judgment and helps developing leaders make sense of the challenges school leaders face today.Special Features: Featured Cases direct readers toward the issues of practice embedded within the theoretical content area Linkage to relevant Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) standards ground each chapter in the latest guidelines for the field Discussion Questions foster reflection of content and practical applications Leadership Activities and Web-Based Resources support leaders in making further connections to practice

A Case Study Approach to Educational Leadership takes on six core areas of school leadership—organizational vision; curriculum, instruction, and assessment; school and external community; school climate and culture; equity; and improvement, innovation, and reform. Using a case learning approach, this volume introduces salient theoretical and empirical literature in each core area and provides illustrative cases designed for individual and group analysis. Written for aspiring educational leaders, this book facilitates the discussion and reflection of individual and collective professional judgment and helps developing leaders make sense of the challenges school leaders face today.Special Features: Featured Cases direct readers toward the issues of practice embedded within the theoretical content area Linkage to relevant Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) standards ground each chapter in the latest guidelines for the field Discussion Questions foster reflection of content and practical applications Leadership Activities and Web-Based Resources support leaders in making further connections to practice

Teachers and administrators who understand the "politics" in schools can operate more successfully to facilitate change. This text teaches educators to identify and influence common social patterns that affect their work in school organizations. It combines literature from educational leadership and foundations of education to provide a comprehensive introduction to organizational theories related to schooling. A particularly notable feature is that in addition to traditional bureaucratic and political approaches, there is a substantial focus on recent critical and feminist theories. Extensive use of narrative vignettes makes the theories accessible for prospective and practicing teachers. Practice cases and exercises assist students in applying the theories to their own organization settings. Assuming little prior knowledge of theories about school organizations, this volume is intended as a text for introductory graduate courses, as well as for advanced undergraduate courses, and groups such as site-based management teams and district professional development committees.

Effective problem solving contributes to school leaders' ability to create lasting improvement in classroom and organizational practice. By addressing the practice of school leaders as a first concern, this book focuses on the skills required for smart, effective problem solving. Kruse first focuses on the tasks of problem solving (identifying problems, initiating actions, and evaluating results) and describes three areas (employing effective communication, designing constructive policies, and developing supportive systems ) on which school leaders should concentrate. By linking the tasks of problem solving to the work leaders do, the book provides strategies for school leaders to accomplish their goals.